Local government pension investment – Mercer comment

Consultant, Mercer, believes government proposals to create six large wealth funds from the current 89 separate local government pension funds ‘can have significant investment and governance benefits to both local government and wider society’.

Steve Turner, partner at Mercer, says:

‘Individual authorities first need to determine how best to organise themselves into effective working collaborative relationships of sufficient scale. Groupings can then investigate the potential long-term cost savings of pooling but will also need to consider the cost implications of setting up a pooling structure and the ongoing governance and monitoring of the arrangement.’

However, he adds that pooling investment is no ‘silver bullet’ and that a holistic approach to local government pension restructuring is required, encompassing transparent funding plans, risk management and ‘best-in-class’ governance.

Mercer is a ‘global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments’. Mercer’s more than 20,000 employees are based in 43 countries and the firm operates in over 140 countries. For more information, please visit: www.mercer.com.